A confession letter from a former Christian brother who abused boys at a school in Limerick in the 1960s was concealed for decades, the Dáil has heard.
Sean Drummond received a sentence of two years in 2009 for molesting 18 boys at Creagh Lane National School where he was a teacher in 1967, but he served just five months.
The survivors of the abuse watched from the Dáil visitors’ gallery this morning as their case was raised by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.
“Correspondence shows that the Christian brothers in Dublin and in Rome were fully aware of the abuse committed by Drummond, but the confession letter was concealed,” she said.
She added: “It was never given to the survivors, so the investigation, the criminal case, and the survivors’ civil cases were conducted without this key piece of evidence.
The Taoiseach said that he would discuss the matter with Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton
“The confession letter itself constituted a prior complaint, and had it been disclosed, the men wouldn’t have had to fight until 2021 to access compensation.”
Ms McDonald called on the Government to establish an independent investigation into the concealment of the letter and to pay in full the compensation owed to the survivors.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin pledged to find out more about the concealed letter, which he described as new information.
“I certainly will take the issue that you’ve raised in respect of this letter that was written by him in the 1970s forward, and see how best to examine that,” he said.
Mr Martin said that he would discuss the matter with Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton.
The letter was first revealed on the RTÉ Investigates programme ‘Christian Brothers: The Assets The Abusers’ last year.
The programme spoke to the Creagh Lane abuse survivors, and the letter was shown on screen.
On the wider issue of accountability from those who were responsible for the schools where abuse took place, the Taoiseach told the Dáil that an inter-departmental group is currently drawing up recommendations.
This work is due to be completed by May 2027.
Watch in full: ‘Christian Brothers: The Assets The Abusers’